"I expectations that Russia's GDP will be slightly better in 2016 and 2017 as well," he said.

"As for the Q4 we expect to see a slight growth in annual terms - by the Q4 of 2016," he said.

Deputy Minister Alexei Vedev said earlier that the Ministry expected recovering growth of the domestic economy would start already in the fourth quarter of 2016.

"Our estimates show the economy adapted to new price corridors relatively to the exchange rate and oil prices on international markets. We expect recovering growth of the economy may start already in the fourth quarter of this year," the official said.

"We estimate GDP yearly dynamics will embark on the positive trend already in the first quarter of 2017," Vedev said.

Inflation

The economy minister also pointed out that inflation in Russia may be lower than 5.8% projected in the adjusted forecast by the end of this year.